La Posada's San Agustin Ballroom was completely packed with supporters, and O'Rourke was greeted like a rock star. People chanted his name, held up their phones to take videos, shook yard signs and sported "Laredoans for Beto" T-shirts.

O'Rourke was flanked on this border trip by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and his brother, former mayor of San Antonio and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro.

They, along with Laredo's U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, were O'Rourke's event openers.

O'Rourke hit the stage, thanked these men sincerely, and proceeded to speak to the crowd about immigration, the border wall, the safety of Laredo and other border communities, human dignity for all people, universal health care and President Donald Trump.

In an interview before the event, O'Rourke explained why he decided to make this long trip to the border from Dallas. Due to some bad weather, O'Rourke and his team had to drive south in the middle of the night.

"The border is incredibly important to the future of this country, and important in the telling of the story of Texas. But it's not enough for me to say that. The only way to demonstrate that is to continue to show up," O'Rourke told LMT.

"We've been to Laredo so many times now, and you're going to see us so many more times. Because this city and its story – it's the story of our economy and trade. It's the story of our communities and their safety, because they are communities of immigrants. It's the American story of who we are, a nation of refugees and immigrants and asylum seekers. People who have been here for 10 generations, people who just got here 10 days ago – all of that comes together in an incredibly beautiful way here in Laredo.

"And the really intense pride that I feel in this community, every time that I'm here – I want to share that with the rest of the country. It's nothing to apologize for, nothing to be defensive about, everything to celebrate and to own and to use as an example for who we can be when we're at our best. So, I'm just so proud of this community.